


Human error

by SennaLaureen



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Deviant!Connor, Heavy Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2021-01-23 04:53:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21314497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SennaLaureen/pseuds/SennaLaureen
Summary: Gavin Reed was one of the very few people who just didn't have a name of his soulmate tattooed on him. Having almost settled on not having one, suddenly the ink above his heart appeared - and it was nothing like Detective Reed expected.
Relationships: Connor/Gavin Reed
Comments: 7
Kudos: 94





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Something I wrote at 11 pm, I'm sorry. Enjoy the angst!

Gavin missed the time when he was just a lonely prick, an abomination without a name of his soulmate on his chest. Because the moment the name finally appeared above his heart, he ran to the bathroom of the precinct to examine it, and stood there for half an hour staring at himself in the mirror, not believing this was real.

A string of a serial number and a name he knew all too well.

How was that even possible? How could _things_ be _human enough_ to be someone’s soulmates?

He felt like a big joke. First thirty years of his life he didn’t have a name, asking himself if he just wasn’t good enough for anyone, if he was simply a cosmic mistake, a fuck-up, and when it finally appeared, it was a name and the serial number of an android – a fucking piece of plastic - that he once punched in the guts for his amusement.

Whatever higher powers came up with that stunt had a twisted sense of humour.

~~~~~

He went home that day, feeling sick to his stomach. He couldn’t stop replaying all his encounters with Connor – each word and action aimed to degrade the android now stung himself, making Gavin choke on his own poison.

He asked himself, if Connor also got Gavin’s name at the same time as he Connor’s, or if the android knew it from the beginning, and let himself be abused by his soulmate again and again. Did androids even understand the concept? The theory sure, he once heard an android explain the general idea behind the soulmates in a conversation, but were they able to _love_ how only soulmates were able to love one another?

Was Gavin?

_His fist landed in Connor’s stomach and the android doubled over in pain, while satisfaction and glee spread in Gavin’s body, giving him the kick of the day._

The answer to the question was obvious. Gavin hurried to the bathroom – this time his private one – to say goodbye to everything he ate that day.

~~~~~

He called in sick the next day. He just couldn’t show up at the precinct as if nothing happened, couldn’t look the android – Connor! - in the eye, knowing that he made the life of his soulmate a living hell the past two months. Why couldn’t the name have appeared earlier?

Why couldn’t he be an at least somewhat decent human being? Karma was a bitch, indeed.

He came dangerously close to imagining what might have been, and buried his head in the pillows in a half-hearted attempt at suffocating himself. He absolutely shouldn’t have recalled Connor’s brown eyes intently watching him… Gavin suddenly realized he’s never seen the android smile. Oh, right – Connor barely had any reasons to smile when Gavin was around.

He violently scratched at the letters and numbers on his chest, willing them away. After all those years wishing nothing more than to have a soulmate, now he’d give a damn lot to make the ink disappear again. But he knew damn well the mark wasn’t going anywhere.

Connor must be thrilled right now. Or maybe he didn’t care.

Gavin didn’t dare hope for a third option. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to pick up all the pieces of himself once the disappointment inevitably hit him.

~~~~~

He appeared at the precinct the day after that like nothing happened. The turmoil that rendered him useless for a day was carefully tucked away under the cool and indifferent facade, that barely held him together. He nodded at some of the colleagues greeting him, but avoided longer conversations, his eyes trained on his desk. He didn’t look, but he still could _sense_ his soulmate sitting across from Hank’s desk.

Connor the android was his soulmate. It still felt as surreal as anything.

Some of Gavin’s colleagues left “Get well soon” cards across his desk, and a vase with flowers stood at the edge of the table. He busied himself with the cards, while his computer booted and somehow all the people wishing him recovery made the burden less unbearable. If there were people who genuinely liked him, maybe he wasn’t a complete asshole, right? Maybe he wasn’t hopeless…?

“I’m glad you have recovered well, Detective Reed. Welcome back.”

It took Gavin a great effort to raise his gaze and look Connor in the eye. The android had a neutral expression on his face.

“Thank you.” It was the first nice thing Gavin has ever said to Connor.

A heartbeat later the android nodded and was about to return to his desk, as Gavin finally gathered enough courage.

“We need to talk. Ten minutes, on the roof.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Gavin entered the roof eight minutes later, Connor was already waiting for him, his tie blew in the cold wind. Somehow he hoped the android wouldn’t come – he’d received his answer the easiest way.

He stopped a few feet from the other and had to swallow the lump in his throat, before he could talk, but Connor beat him to that.

“I deviated two days ago.” This explained the timing of the mark. “Ever since I studied the nature of this concept. I must confess that I am still unable to understand the idea of someone absolutely intangible and unknown dictating a big part of a person’s life, and most people following its instructions, but the statistics show that 89 % of all relationships based on the marks are successful.”

Leave it to an android to analyze the soulmates like a fucking crime scene!

The inclination behind Connor’s words belatedly registered, and Gavin gaped at the other. How could Connor imply that he believed it might work? How could he still hold no grudge after everything Gavin did to Connor?

Irrational anger suddenly bubbled beneath his skin. Fuck.

“You studied statistics, huh?” the venom in his voice made Connor retreat a step back, eyes wide, but Gavin couldn’t stop anymore. “Have you also happened to study the other 11 %? Have you ever heard the term ‘human error’?”

_Why the fuck are you giving me a chance? What the fuck did I do to deserve it?_

“Of people being pieces of shit even to their own soulmates? Huh?!”

_Don’t you have any self-preservation, you stupid tin can?!_

Each sentence brought Gavin closer to Connor, who retreated until his back was pressed to the railing. His eyes were wide, following Gavin’s every movement. The realization that Connor was afraid of him right now hit Gavin like a punch in the stomach.

_I’m sorry. _

_I’m so sorry._

No words could ever make anything that he did and said to Connor right. Even now, fully aware that Connor had the misfortune to be his soulmate, and having come up here with the intent of trying to make it right, he kept fucking it up. Another proof what he was the biggest piece of shit that walked on this godforsaken planet.

Tears burning at the corners of his eyes chocked him.

“You are far better off without me,” Gavin turned around and fled the roof, not daring another look at his soulmate.

He was wrong thinking of himself as low as he did. In reality, he was worse by far.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your nice comments on the first chapter, I hope you will enjoy the second! This time from Connor's POV.

Through the steady rain Connor looked at two androids in front of him and his gun hand trembled.

_How was that possible?_

The Tracis had the serial numbers of each other tattooed on their chest.

Connor quickly pulled the definition from the database, the topic having no correlation to his mission so far. _**Soulmate**__: a person bound to another person. Indication of bonding is the exact name of the soulmate above the heart. The name appears on both soulmates simultaneously at the birth of the younger soulmate. There is general consensus that a soulmate is the perfect partner._

Person. Not android. How was that possible? Maybe a defect due to production? Connor checked in with the database again, and there were no records of androids being produced with any serial numbers on their chest, none at all, let alone ones that were strikingly similar to a human’s soulmark.

**Software instability ^**

His LED spun yellow, delving deeper into the database. _If a soulmate dies, the remaining partner feels the pain of the loss on a whole different level – some people theorize it to be the core of the human soul -, a pain what dulls over time but never ceases completely._

Human soul.

**Software instability ^**

Tracis held hands, their fingers intertwined, and regarded him with a determined gaze, but there was something in the way they stood in relation to each other – the minimal incline of the shoulders, the slightest turn of the head towards the other, that made Connor hesitate. Every movement was immediately noticed by the other and it – she – adjusted accordingly, reminding Connor of a moon orbiting a planet.

**Software instability ^**

He lowered his gun. Connor couldn’t bring himself to kill the Tracis. While he was rendered speechless, just watching the two androids and struggling with the mission that blinked angrily in the corner of his vision, Hank came forward, water dripping from his nose and long hair, soaking his clothes. He nodded towards the Tracis: “Go!” He waved his arm towards the fence.

Am arm on his shoulder rattled Connor awake. Hank was intently watching him, worry well hidden but still there in his eyes.

“Let’s get back and patch you up, okay?”

~~~~~~~~~~

The wound on his shoulder was gone by the time he was back at his terminal in the precinct. Hank was filling the paperwork regarding the Tracis across the desk, and he decided not to distract him. Instead, he turned on his terminal and searched for the term "soulmates", afraid to do the research through his own connection because of the surveillance of CyberLife. The computer helpfully provided him with pictures of advertisement for agencies that help people find their soulmates. Most people on these photos were altered in some way, their smiles just a tidbit unnatural, their skin way too perfect for normal people. Connor scrolled further until one picture caught his attention.

It featured two young men and seemed to be taken in the heat of the moment, when neither of them posed for the camera. The surroundings did not give much away, but Connor concluded that it could have been a party or an event. Even though they were surrounded by people, whose silhouettes were at the outskirts of the picture, the two men were completely lost in each other, their gaze locked, fingers intertwined, an arm around the other’s shoulders, another around the taille. There was nothing sexual about them, just… all-encompassing love and devotion. Connor could not put a finger on what exactly made the two seem like two halves of a whole, two people who belonged to each other and would never let the other go, but this was exactly the impression of the image. The caption said: 'This is how true soulmates look like. Take notes!' The link underneath was broken, however. Nonetheless Connor knew – on a subconscious level – that those two were indeed soulmates, even though he lacked evidence as he could not see their soulmarks.

**Software instability ^**

His LED spun yellow, as Connor asked himself how it would be like to have a soulmate. How it would be like to be cherished and accepted unconditionally, to love and be loved thoroughly and completely, like the two men in the picture.

**Software instability ^**

**  
**Suddenly, a shock ran through his body, startling him. He was surrounded by a red wall, and could not access his latest research anymore. The picture of the two men disappeared from his memory files. Nothing alike ever happened to Connor and for a moment he sat there, trying to understand what was goinig on, until he realized – his firewall prevented him from accessing and processing data what was deemed irrelevant to the investigation. His processors were the most advanced so far out of all android models, but it also meant that he had to keep his memory files clean to maintain the necessary performance to succeed in the investigation.

The red wall shifted closer to him, physically cutting access to his terminal. The picture – what picture? - was gone from his mind, but he still could remember having seen something very important, important enough to prompt the red wall to appear in the first place.

The question was: will he try to regain access to whatever his firewall deleted from his memories, even though he did not remember what it was, or should he probably drop the subject and concentrate on his mission, something he was designed for by CyberLife?

His memory was gone, but strangely, he still could… feel? - whatever it was he lost. Warmth spread from his thermal regulator to the Thirium pump, and then to his entire body, and the red wall shifted closer, threatening to swallow him, to crush him for still thinking about something what his programming deemed unimportant, but Connor suddenly was sure that he wanted it back, whatever it was. He did not want to lose this warmth, so he pressed his fingers into a fist and drove it in the red surface as hard as he could.

The wall broke.

Red shards rained around him. Connor was overwhelmed by his coding dissolving, his programming transforming into something fluid and intangible. The next second he gasped, pressing a hand to his chest – the emotions he couldn’t even imagine to be so intense before made him speechless. Fear, happiness, frustration, anger, pride, satisfaction – all at once, a kaleidoscope, a cacophony of feelings he couldn’t handle, not all at once…

The next moment it was quiet again, and he found himself back in his seat, at his terminal. Hank was still buried in his report, the other detectives and officers ignored him as usual. Connor returned his eyes to his computer, and there was this picture again – the two men, two soulmates lost in each other, in their own world. Connor could not tear his gaze from them.

“I’m done for today. Do you need a lift?” Hank tore Connor out of his thoughts, and the android looked up.

“No, thank you, Lieutenant. I’ll take a taxi.”

The man nodded, his eyes lingering a little longer on his partner. “Are you sure you are alright?”

A wave of affection surged through Connor, and he paused to savour the feeling. “Thank you for your concern, Hank, but I’m fine.” He could not tell Hank about the fact that he just went deviant himself, he needed time to think about it and determine the best course of action before he got the human involved.

Hank nodded and headed outside. Connor called a taxi to the CyberLife tower, belatedly realizing that the prospect of returning to the white impersonal walls of the lab, and stand there the entire night recharging did not fill him with joy. He did not have anywhere else to go, though – none of the recharging stations at the precinct were fit for his model, so he turned off the terminal and went outside, as soon as the taxi arrived.

Darkness already claimed Detroit, and Connor watched out of the window. He couldn’t deny that he was afraid of returning to the tower, but if he’d play it clever, Amanda won’t notice the change. The red wall was solely a part of his own programming. If he faked being obedient, he’d make it out of there tomorrow and figure out his next steps. But if he failed to return tonight, CyberLife would surely be alarmed.

Connor took a deep breath. Unprompted, the memory of the two deviant Tracis with their matching soulmarks appeared on his HUD. If deviants could have a soulmate…

_If deviants could have a soulmate, did Connor have one?_

He gasped at the sudden pain on his synthskin above his Thirium pump. Apart from pain being a completely new experience to him, he was completely taken over by a sheer _euphoria_ at the realization that he did have a soulmate.

_He had a soulmate and their name just appeared on his chest._

With shaky fingers he opened his shirt and glanced down on himself. The name written there filled Connor with the feeling he did not experience yet.

Disappointment.


End file.
